


At Arm’s Length

by tbzlovers



Category: The Boyz (Korea Band)
Genre: Birthday, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, First Meetings, Fluff, Happy Birthday Kevin Moon!, Hyunjae best boy, Kevin-centered, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Online Relationship, ish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-14 13:09:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29667777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tbzlovers/pseuds/tbzlovers
Summary: It’s Kevin’s 23rd birthday, and he can’t wait to celebrate it with his close ones. He just wishes his boyfriend would pick up his FaceTime  calls, all the way from Korea. After all, never having been together in the same room was already enough of a bum.(Written for Kevin Day <3)
Relationships: Ji Changmin | Q/Kim Younghoon (mentioned), Lee Jaehyun | Hyunjae/Moon Hyungseo | Kevin
Comments: 9
Kudos: 55





	At Arm’s Length

**Author's Note:**

> It’s still the 23rd in Vancouver so technically, I’m still on time! This is just a bunch of fluff put together because I love Kevin a lot, and wanted to do something cute for his birthday. I hope you like it!

"Please go to bed, it's almost 2am." Kevin chastised.

"Nooo." the man on his tablet screen whined loudly, burrowing himself further in his covers. 

Kevin kept on munching on his toast nonplussed, the other’s antics breakfast routine for him at this point. “Stop whining you man-baby. We can talk in a few hours, _after_ you’ve put in your hours of sleep.”

The other attempted the pitiful look tactic, even if he knew perfectly well Kevin would absolutely not fall for it.

“Jaehyun that won’t work. C’mon, go to bed or I’ll hang up this call right now.”

The other sighed, accepting defeat. “Okay, I’ll go. But I’m gonna miss you.”

“I know you will. But sleep first.” Kevin scolded. “What would you even do without me?”

The other smiled heartwarmingly. “I’d be lost. You know this. You’re my light. But okay okay, I’ll go to sleep now. Can I call when I wake up?”

“Of course, text me in case I’m in the library or something.”

“Sure.” Jaehyun agreed, and then widened his eyes briefly, remembering something. “Oh, before I forget, Younghoon and I have a project to deliver in five days so I might be a bit absent for the rest of the day, I’m sorry. I’ll still call you in the morning, don’t worry.”

Kevin shrugged. Jaehyun didn’t owe him all hours of his day, both had lives they had to attend to outside of their daily video calls. “It’s okay, why are you apologizing? As long as you’re here when I call tomorrow.” He warned. “And in two days. Tuesday is an important day.”

Jaehyun chuckled. “Of course. It’s your birthday, what kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn’t call you?”

“Exactly.” Kevin beamed. “I have to hang up now. Need to brush my teeth. Sleep tight love.”

“See you soon Keb.” Jaehyun said lastly, and he pressed the red button, his boyfriend disappearing from the screen.

Kevin sighed. Thank god for boyfriends. Even long distance ones. Early Sunday mornings would be _shit_ if it weren’t for them. 

Sometimes he wondered if Jaehyun knew to what extent he needed him, if he knew the way his presence made the days easier for him to handle. Sitting in the kitchen isle of his shared apartment, having breakfast at 7am on a Sunday while video chatting with his boyfriend, already on his way to welcome Monday once sleep carried him away, was a blessing he sometimes wondered if he was worthy of. Definitely worthy of the hours of sleep he sacrificed in order to keep in touch.

Oftentimes he couldn’t help but mull over how extraordinary a hug from Jaehyun would probably feel.

But _soon_. Just a couple of months more. Then he would find out how it felt. He was sure.

Their relationship started, well… beautifully. The first time they talked, Kevin called Jaehyun a Neanderthal. 

Jaehyun replied in kind with 'accented alien'. 

He still called him alien once in a while, but now it was a term of endearment more than anything else. And in all fairness, Jaehyun's behaviour had been absolutely Neanderthal.

When he was 20-years-old, Kevin Moon, korean born, canadian raised, graphic design college student in Vancouver, and passionate about arts above anything else, had the life realization that nothing would make him happier than become a video-game story-boarder. It couldn’t be helped. With the way the spare time he had - from classes and the superior hobby of digital sketching - would be usually used to incessantly play RPG games, Kevin slowly grew more and more marvelled at the work that went behind it. There was absolute brilliance in turning something an artist like Kevin could easily draft on a napkin into a full fledged computer persona, controlled and displayed by a series of complex algorithms. He knew he wanted to be a part of it.

Realizing this also meant having to make life changing decisions. Canada wasn’t exactly a landmark in the video game scene. Those trophies would usually go to the USA. Or to Japan. Or to South Korea.

And Kevin, forever a lover of new, uncharted territory, and someone more or less fluent in Korean, had seen it as a sign. Or at least as a way to put his knowledge and skills to good use in a new environment, hopefully for a few years. If not, then Canada would always be there to welcome him back home. So, he made up his mind. His life goal after getting his degree would be moving to Korea. That’s where he could chase his dream.

Being fluent in Korean however, didn’t mean he was confident about it. He usually only spoke it at home, on very rare occasions with his roommate and best friend, Jacob, or even rarer ones with his american friend Eric. The last time he had been to Korea he had been around ten years old, and additionally, he hadn’t been regularly home either ever since starting college. He needed _practice_ if he didn’t want to make a fool out of himself once he started going for job interviews. He should be prepared to never stutter from his lack of experience in the language. But practice meant engaging in conversation with as many korean speakers as possible, and his closest ones definitely weren’t a sample large enough. 

Instead, he found himself once again turning to the world of video gaming, seeing in it a solution to his fears. He asked his roommate to install a VPN on his desktop, and after he was done, Kevin quickly changed all servers in his video games to korean ones. It was the perfect idea. The people speaking into his headset on any online RPG were now korean, and Kevin could already feel his vocabulary improving after only one week. He had been enjoying himself immensely, often mentioning it to Jacob. 

That had been until Lee Jaehyun.

To this day, his boyfriend still apologized profusely for not having known better, and Kevin now smiled endearingly at the memory, but back then he had been positively fuming.

It had been his first time trying on a new multiplayer platform game. In it, every player was automatically assigned a team when entering the server, and in order to achieve the maximum score, the four players couldn’t work individually. Rules dictated that the game would be lost if there were not at least two players still alive. 

Kevin positively sucked at it at first, something he tried to apologize for to the other 3 people speaking into his headset. Two of the voices had eased his worries, saying that it was okay, while the third one had merely grumbled in the background. 

His lack of experience eventually cost those two teammates the game, when they had to sacrifice their energy to not let Kevin’s character be destroyed by a monster. He hadn't felt that embarrassed in a long time, not used to feeling so underprepared for a game. He apologized several times more to them before the two got forcefully disconnected from the server, and then a little more to the remaining player, who barely acknowledged it.

“Just don’t do anything reckless and keep following me.” was all he said to Kevin.

It was in vain. They had barely levelled up fifteen minutes later, when Kevin’s character got itself killed at the hands of snake-like creatures. The game couldn’t be played with only one person remaining on the team, and so a big bold “GAME OVER” sufficed on the screen. 

His teammate had snapped then, as the two stood waiting for the game to tell them their final scores and rank. “Jesus Christ you really are a loser.” The voice of the other exasperated through Kevin’s headphones.

“What? I’m sorry, it’s my first time playing this game, I’m usually better -”

“Oh, please, you think I’ll believe that? Just admit you suck at this and go do something else, you’ve made me lose a game, you don’t have to do that to someone else.”

“Excuse me?” Kevin snorted, “You don’t even know who the hell I am, you Neanderthal, I’ll have you know I’m very good at video games.”

The other huffed through the line. “Oh, I’m the Neanderthal?? Sure, you weirdly accented alien, but I’m sure you just built a fantasy tale in your mind where you actually can play.. You just can’t admit you suck at something as simple as this game, newbie. Play solo for a while before coming to the big leagues with people who can actually play, alright?”

“Oh, you did _not_ just, you fucker. Big fuck you, you don’t know me.” he started raising his voice. “You know what? If you don’t mind - or actually even if you mind, cuz you just insulted me - we’re taking this to _discord_ because I won’t stand for you thinking I don’t know my shit, we’ll play a match of something else, and then we’ll see who is right!”

“Oh, it’s going to be like this??” The other scoffed, “Sure, whatever you want, not my fault you can’t play this anyway.”

“Shut the fuck up. I’ve pasted my user ID in the chat, send me a request on _discord_.”

“Sure, honey.”

“You fu -”

How they ended up playing Mario Kart online of all things, to settle their differences, no one was sure. But after 10 rounds (yes, _that much_ , Kevin ended up sacrificing his whole morning, and Jaehyun pulled an all-nighter) of fairly even victories, with Kevin claiming six, the other four, Jaehyun apologized to the younger, admitting that maybe, just _maybe_ , Kevin had been playing the other online multiplayer game for the first time.

With both grumpily recognizing that in the end they had had fun together, and that they shared very similar tastes - Kevin couldn’t believe Jaehyun was actually a high ranked player in one of his favorite games - they agreed to play together again the next day, arranging it between the impossible time difference between two countries in opposite sides of the world.

The rest was history. 

One week later, Jaehyun apologized for his “uncalled for xenophobic comment”, saying it had been unecessary, and that he could assure Kevin that his korean was perfect, better than his. Kevin had replied with a mere shrug and an apology back, for his “uncalled for pre-historical comment”. Jaehyun had laughed and then told him to go fuck himself, which was fair.

Kevin got to learn about Jaehyun’s life, eerily similar to his. 

Jaehyun was a few months older, born in 97, but they were in the same year of college, since Kevin had skipped ahead to the second grade when he was a child. Jaehyun went to university in Seoul, and was roommates with his childhood best friend Younghoon. He was taking business management, and spoke of the corporate world he would one day be a part of with genuine eagerness.

Jaehyun told him about his family, about the older sister he had just like Kevin, and about his little brother, who only after a few minutes did Kevin realize was actually a puppy. He spoke about his experience going to college away from home, and complained about Younghoon, about how he loved his best friend to death, but hated his tendency to sexile him lately with this new person he was seeing.

Kevin told him of his own life too, of his family, and of the snow in Vancouver. He told him about Jacob, who had come to study in Vancouver with his brother back when they were in their first year of highschool, and who had become the closest friend he had ever had at arm’s length. He told him of Eric, who he had met at a summer camp in America back when they had been twelve and nine, who had never stopped being in touch, and who visited often.

And amidst it all, they played games together, the hobby slowly becoming pointless when the other wasn’t there.

One month after starting their progressively more frequent _discord_ calls, Jaehyun commented how absurd it was that they had never seen each other, and so Kevin agreed to turning on their webcams.

To this day, he could remember the inner turmoil he had felt the moment Jaehyun appeared on his screen, the way suddenly a pair of small doe eyes, caramel hair, and handsome jawline were staring back at him, equal parts nervousness, equal parts shock, from also seeing Kevin for the first time. He had had to muffle a scream into his sleeve. This had not been in his plans. Jaehyun was not supposed to have been inexplicably _gorgeous_.

They never made a call again with their webcams turned off.

The months passed. 

Kevin got introduced to Younghoon, and recently made official boyfriend Changmin. Jaehyun met Jacob, and then Eric, when the youngest came to visit his canadian friends for spring break. During one of his visits home, his mom caught them video calling each other, and demanded to be introduced to his korean friend. Jaehyun had had her licking out of the palm of his hand in minutes.

“I know that look my son.” she had told him later that day. “You have feelings for your friend Jaehyun, don’t you?”

He had only smiled guiltily at her. “Was it that obvious?”

A nightly / early afternoon - depending on whom - conversation, five months into their friendship, had the two talking about what wasn’t exactly an easy topic. “I’m most definitely bi.” Jaehyun had let out, after a moment of shared silence. 

Kevin had smiled at the camera then, hoping to convey how much he cherished that he had been trusted with that information. “That’s okay.” he had said. “I was thirteen the day I told my parents I was gay.”

Ten months into their friendship, Jaehyun facetimed him in the middle of one of his lectures, which was extremely weird, given that in Korea it was probably some five in the morning. Kevin had exited the lecture quietly, fearing it could be something serious. When he picked up, a frazzled looking Jaehyun was staring at him, seemingly surprised that the call had been picked up. 

Kevin had barely been able to ask “Is something wrong?” when the other blurted out very suddenly “Will you be my boyfriend, Kevin Moon?” under one breath.

He had frozen, caught off guard.

And then he had accepted, _of course_.

One year into knowing each other, Kevin put together the finances he had gathered for the past years, finally finding an utility to them, asked for help from his parents - who he was sure had grown more infatuated with Jaehyun than even himself - and bought a plane ticket to Korea for spring break. 

They had everything planned out. Kevin would be staying for a week with Jaehyun at his dorm, because Younghoon would be going home earlier, and then the two would also go to Jaehyun’s family house for the second week. Jaehyun was more excited over the idea that Kevin would be meeting his dog than for Kevin’s actual visit.

The trip had been two months away when the world stopped.

“Corona virus”, the news called it. “Staying home is the only way to ensure your safety and of the other’s around you.”

The warnings came like a slow approaching train wreck.

Everyone ordered to not leave their houses. 

Cars forbidden from circulating. 

Borders closed. 

Kevin’s flight _cancelled_. 

Worst of all, he didn’t even get a refund.

He had cried, more than he wanted to admit to Jaehyun, the shoulders of his mom and Jacob the only consolation he could find. His best friend hadn’t been allowed to go home to Toronto after the lockdown, and so he had come to Kevin’s with him, both forced to spend the remainder of their junior year having online classes and keeping each other company as the world figured itself out. 

Restrictions started easing a few months later, Kevin thankful that at least going outside during the summer was now allowed. Borders slowly reopened too. But Kevin wasn’t made out of money. He had a bigger picture to consider now that with September approaching, he would officially become a senior student. 

After all, he still had an actual permanent migration planned, now more than ever, to South Korea, in mere months. No matter how much he wanted to feel the touch of Jaehyun, to finally press their lips together, to experience something better than online... yep, they also did _that_ \- he needed to be smart about this. Both did. It wasn’t like they weren’t used to the distance. They could wait.

So here Kevin was, third February since he had met his boyfriend rolling in, still with no chance of showing any of his guests a photo of the two together. But it was okay. If all went well, which it _would_ , he would be done with college for good in June, and by the time Jaehyun's birthday rolled around in September, he would already be with his life settled all the way across the globe. With Jaehyun at arms' length. 

**

Kevin was pissed. Very much so. 

No. Scratch that. 

Kevin was worried. Very much so.

No, no. He should take that back, there were no reasons to be worried.

Which meant he was pissed. Very much so.

No, he was being unfair. He was absolutely worried.

Or he wasn’t.

But what if -

Was there an emotion called _worrissed_?

He shook his head annoyed. He wasn’t making any sense.

“You’re not making any sense.” Nice, glad to see Jacob agreed.

“I don’t know what to think, Cob. What if he’s gone tired? What if he wants to break up with me but doesn’t want to do it on my birthday?”

Jacob judged him from the sofa where he was sat. “Did you just genuinely suggest that? About Jaehyun? Are we talking about the same person here?”

“I-” Kevin sighed, draping himself dramatically on the carpet of their living room. “Of course I’m not being serious. I’m just confused. This is very unusual.”

“Didn’t you say he was busy with a project? Maybe he got caught up with it and will call you as soon as he can.”

“No no, that makes no sense. Did you know that two years ago he put an alarm on his phone for Vancouver midnight so he could be the first person to wish me a happy birthday in his timezone and mine? And then last year he had an actual dinner with me - like he had an actual candle at his side - even if for him it was like early afternoon, because he said I deserved a romantic birthday dinner, no matter where he was in the world?”

“So you’ve told me. Several times.”

“Sorry.” he felt his cheeks getting red. Jaehyun made him too cheesy. “But you see why I’m confused, right? It’s been officially my birthday for -” he looked quickly at his watch, “over fifteen hours now, and he still hasn’t called or said anything.”

“Kevin, this is Jaehyun we’re talking about. You guys talk about each other like you’re the only two people in the world. I’m sure he just got caught up in something and will get back to you when he can. But you,” he added while getting up, “have a birthday party to prepare. So stop moping. C’mon, I can help you with the cooking.”

The other scoffed. “I don’t think we can call it a party if it’s only me, you, Eric, Mark from upstairs, and my family.”

“I think that’s exactly what you would call a party.”

“Alright alright.” Kevin pouted while getting off the floor. “I’m going to fry the chicken. Did you know chicken is Jaehyun’s favorite food?”

“Yes Kev.”

“I miss Jaehyun already. The last time we talked was Sunday afternoon.”

“For Jesus’ sake Moon,” he said amidst a laugh, “at least be mindful of us singles.”

Keeping his mind occupied with dinner preparations turned out very helpful. Three hours passed seamlessly between cooking, setting the table, and phoning his family to see where they were.

The nagging feeling that something was eerily wrong with Jaehyun didn’t leave him however. Kevin kept trying really hard to mask his apprehension, though he was sure he wasn’t fooling Jacob nor Mark. But his family would be there soon, and this was his birthday. It was his duty to feel happy.

His sister’s family was the first to arrive. His brother-in-law had barely been past the threshold, and Kevin was already all over his niece, hugging her tightly against his chest as all of them walked into the living room conjoined with the hall. She was merely months old, and incredibly small underneath his palms. No task ever felt as important as holding her cautiously did. It was an honour he felt sometimes unworthy of, the biggest luxury he had ever been granted. Except for that one time he had had the chance to introduce her to an absolutely endeared Jaehyun, who had made her smile even through a small phone screen. Now _that_ had been a luxury only available to Kevin.

(A silly, very little part of him wondered sometimes if one day Jaehyun and him would have a tiny human of themselves like this too.)

His sister made small talk with Jacob, while his brother-in-law and Mark sat together to watch some TV. He kept on handling the tasks he could with a baby perched on his lap, when the bell rang, signaling the arrival of someone else.

With his parents entering his apartment and kissing his cheeks, wishing him a happy birthday, and then wholeheartedly neglecting him to instead grab their granddaughter and press raspberries in her tummy, Kevin looked around with a smile. His small list of guests was almost complete, only Eric left to arrive from his flight to LA, and Kevin couldn’t feel more grateful. A pandemic was a serious issue humankind was still learning how to navigate, so he knew he had been afforded a blessing not many could experience, being allowed a small celebration of his day, with the people he called closest.

He just really wished Jaehyun would pick up his calls.

It was around 7 pm when Kevin started getting antsy again.

Where the hell was Eric?

His friend had told him his flight from LA landed at 4 pm. Early enough that he had told them he could get to their apartment by himself, no need to go pick him up, even if he would be carrying a suitcase to stay for a few days with them. But even by transports, no one took _that long_ from the airport to the heart of the city. Eric should have been here _hours_ ago. Why hadn’t he warned him or Jacob if his flight was going to be tardy? 

Kevin grabbed his phone with a frown and called him.

He hadn’t actually expected Eric to pick up. “Hey birthday boy!” his friend excitedly greeted him.

“Where _the hell_ are you, Eric Sohn?” he nearly screamed into the speaker.

“Whoa, chill bro, I’m almost there. The driver is saying ten minutes.”

“Driver?” Kevin frowned. “You mean like a Uber?”

“Yeah, of course like a Uber. Sadly I’m not rich enough yet to have a personal chauffeur.”

“But how the hell are you on a Uber, which takes like fourty five minutes from the airport, when your flight landed three fucking hours ago? You said you would come by transports, what the hell Eric. Was your flight really that late? We could’ve come pick you up.”

“Oh, yeah. Shit, I forgot that little detail. Didn’t remember you knew when my flight arrived. Please ignore everything I just told you.”

“Uh?”

“ANYWAY!” Eric interrupted, alarmed. “It doesn’t matter, I’ll explain it better to you as soon as I’m there. Which will be in ten minutes like I said. See yah Kev!” he said in between two breaths before hanging up on him.

What…?

Kevin was absolutely going to pinch Eric’s ear as soon as he got past their door.

Kevin was grabbing Eric’s ear before he even had the chance to step into his apartment.

“Kev, what the hell??” He screamed while being dragged into the living room, the door left open.

“Jacob can you go close the door please, I need to yell at Eric.”

“What did I -”

“Yea, I’ll go in a sec...”

“If you had somewhere else to go or got your flight delayed you could have said something, you know?” Kevin chastised his friend. 

“Kevin, sweetie, I don’t think -”

“Mom, it’s chill, I won’t kill Eric.” He looked forlorny at his friend. “I’m not mad at you, but I was worried, we booked your flight together, I expected you here one hour ago.”

“Yeah, I kinda forgot that, or I would have told you. You know that. But you shouldn’t have to worry that much, I’m an adult too.”

Kevin had to snort at him, Jacob on his left following suit. “That’s the worst excuse you’ve ever given to anything ever Sohn. But why did you take so long then?”

At that, Eric’s entire stance shifted, mischief painting his features. 

Now Kevin was definitely concerned. 

“Well, you see,” his friend smirked. “I was chaperoning.”

Kevin frowned. _Uh?_ “What?”

“Oh, you know,” he shrugged, “there was this certain flight I had to wait for, coming from South Korea. I apologize, it only landed an hour and a half ago, that’s why we’re late. But we got here as soon as we could.”

_Flight from South Korea?_

_“why_ WE _are late”?_

What was Eric talking about? Kevin didn’t exactly have guests coming from the other side of the world. Hell, it wasn’t like he had many acquaintances there, aside from his family and Jaeh-

No. 

There was just _no way_. 

“You’re not making sense any Eric, why would you wait for someone from Korea…?”

“C’mon Kev, I think you know.” He replied with an easy smile. 

He blinked for a few seconds, taking the information in, the confirmation his friend had just given him. He eyed Jacob (who he now realized, had never gone and closed the door) and his sister from the corner of his eye, both wearing the most knowing grins. He eyed his mother on the other side, smiling giddily at the entrance which stood behind him.

Had they - 

Did they mean -

No, he wouldn’t -

“Hey Keb.”

Kevin froze.

Oh god.

_Oh god._

He stood unmoving for a few seconds, afraid to find out if what he had just heard was only a voice coming from a phone, from a computer screen.

He took a deep breath, willing his entire face to remain chilled, as he slowly turned around to face his door.

Caramel hair. Soft brown eyes. The straightest nose known to mankind. The most beautiful of smiles. A suitcase in his hand. And tall. So much tall.

Two years of knowing each other, one and a half of dating, and never once had Kevin contemplated the implications of Jaehyun being 1.80m. Of being evidently taller.

But now he could see it. Could see _him_. Because he was here. In Kevin’s apartment.

“Oh my god!” he cried out, before darting forward like a madman directly into Jaehyun’s arms. Oh god. Jaehyun’s arms! He was here!

He slotted his body perfectly against his boyfriend’s, pressing his head to the crook of Jaehyun's neck and inhaling his scent, just taking his entire presence in, as a pair of strong arms wrapped deliciously tightly around his waist.

“Hey baby.” He heard mumbled against his hair.

He couldn’t help it. Before he was able to stop, he felt the wetness of tears dropping onto Jaehyun’s shoulder. A hand started comforting his back. 

“Is this a dream Jaehyun, am I dreaming?”

“You aren’t. I’m here. For you baby. But it sounds pretty unreal to me too.”

“Oh gosh.” He pressed further into the sweater. Jaehyun even smelled amazingly. This could not be Kevin’s reality, there was just no way. He felt his boyfriend trying to pull him away, but he whined, refusing to let go, and clenched his fists around the other’s shirt.

“Keb,” his boyfriend laughed into his hair, “I just wanna look at you.”

“Oh.” his cheeks suddenly went a shade redder. _Right_. He could do that.

Kevin drew himself a little away from the embrace to look up at Jaehyun, who was smiling down at him blindingly. He had spent hours daydreaming about how it would feel to witness this smile in person, but reality couldn’t compare to his imagination. It was beautiful. It was warm. It was _his_.

“Hi.” he whispered shyly.

“Hi yourself.”

“You’re here.”

“I am. Sorry that I didn’t answer your calls.” he mumbled while combing through Kevin’s bangs. “I was kind of in a plane.”

“Yeah, I think I’ve figured that part out.” He giggled. 

They stood like that for a few more seconds, reality vanished from around them as Kevin imprinted all the little details of Jaehyun’s face into his brain. The glint in his eye. The tiny spot on his nose. His small raised canines. It was too much but not enough at the same time. 

“Gosh, you’re so beautiful.” It was Jaehyun who eventually breathed out, before pressing a kiss to Kevin’s forehead. “Happy birthday my love.”

He was in heaven, he was sure. 

A small cough, courtesy of his ever intruding friend Eric, had both stepping out of their little bubble. Kevin stepped away a little, rosie cheeks evident, and grabbed his boyfriend’s hand, having no intention of letting go anytime soon. Meanwhile, Jaehyun was suddenly busy blushing madly, as he realized the two of them were being observed with hawk eyes by Kevin’s entire family. 

Yeah, they had absolutely forgotten they weren’t alone in the living room.

**

An hour later, as everyone squeezed around his small dining table, comfortable chat flowing now - in Korean to make sure Jaehyun didn’t feel left out - Kevin had to take a breath to stop his eyes from watering. His boyfriend, resident in another continent and with a life as hectic as his, stood sat by his side, shoulder to shoulder, amicably speaking with his sister about his studies, a hand pressed warmly against Kevin’s tight and squeezing it affectionately from time to time. It still felt too surreal. Hours ago he had been antsy about Jaehyun’s whereabouts, when all he had been doing was shortening the distance that constantly impacted their relationship. 

He couldn’t be more thankful, couldn’t ask for a better birthday present. From Jacob and Eric, who had planned the flight with his boyfriend to make sure he arrived with the perfect timing. From his family and Jaehyun’s, who had all pitched in some of their savings to help this encounter happen. And from Jaehyun of course. His Jaehyun, who had done impossible hours of cramming and asked for extra notes from all his college professors to make sure he could afford the luxury of coming to meet his boyfriend, on the other side of the world, and stay with him for an entire week. 

Kevin wasn’t one to pick favorite birthdays, but he was sure this year’s had just absolutely dethroned any other in his 23 years of life. 

Who knew what the 24th would bring.

**Author's Note:**

> I’m sorry that Kevin’s descriptions of Hyunjae are 99% me projecting 🙈
> 
> Thanks for reading this, don’t forget to vote for The Boyz on Kingdom!
> 
>   
> [ Twitter ](https://twitter.com/breadhyunjae)  
> [ Curious Cat ](https://curiouscat.qa/TheBoyzLovers)


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